Coyotes look to get healthy on home ice

CRAIGMORGAN

FS Arizona

A blown two-goal lead and a shootout loss in Edmonton. A blown late-lead in a loss in Calgary. A straight up win in Vancouver. Yeah. That’s how you pictured the
Coyotes’ three-game trip through western Canada playing out, right?

"With the people we have out, we had to come in here (Vancouver) and manufacture a win and be opportunistic on our chances," said coach Dave Tippett, referring to the absence of forwards
Radim Vrbata,
Martin Hanzal and defensemen
Derek Morris and
David Schlemko. “"We wanted to play on our toes. Everybody knows what happened last game. We played a real good third period in Calgary until the last couple minutes, so we wanted to carry it through tonight and we were able to do that."

Tuesday’s 4-2 win over the
Canucks help ease the digestion of collapses in Edmonton and Calgary. It also salvaged the road trip with three points in three games -- a fact that kept the Coyotes in a playoff position entering Wednesday’s play.

We talked recently about the need for secondary scoring. Phoenix got it on this trip. It should have been enough in Calgary, It was enough in Vancouver, with
Kyle Chipchura scoring twice to total three goals for the trip and wing
Paul Bissonnette notching an assist in his third straight game.

"Chipper's been unbelievable of late," said Phoenix forward
Mikkel Boedker, who also scored. "We need that fourth line. We're not a team that can rely on one or two guys."

Phoenix also got a goal, an assist and wins on 15 of his 19 face-offs (78.9 percent) from center
Antoine Vermette, one day after general manager Don Maloney singled out him and
Shane Doan out as veterans from whom the Coyotes need more production.

If the Coyotes can get healthy this week and get Doan and snake-bitten forward
Steve Sullivan rolling, there is opportunity to make some hay now. Starting with Thursday night's game vs. Minnesota, Phoenix plays five of its next six games at home, including a bizarre, lockout-induced three-game set against Anaheim (two games in Glendale and one in southern California).

If the Coyotes entertain any thoughts of defending their Pacific Division title, those three games will be vital, since the
Ducks already are skating away from the pack. Despite a 5-2 loss to the
Kings on Monday, Anaheim has a five-point lead over second-place Dallas with three games in hand on the
Stars and two games in hand on the Coyotes, who trail by six points.

THREE KEY OPPONENT STATS

2-5-1: That’s the
Wild’s road record this season, a far cry from their 7-2-1 home record. Six of those eight road games have been decided by one goal.

2.06: Despite the offseason additions of
Ryan Suter and Zack Parise, Minnesota is averaging a league low in goals per game. That number drops even further on the road, where the Wild are averaging 1.88 (15 in eight contests). The long and short of it is this: If the Coyotes reach three goals, they have an outstanding chance of wining. Minnesota has reached three goals just once in its last six road games.

13.8 percent: It’s not surprising for an offensively challenged team, but Minnesota’s power play ranks 26th in the NHL. That should be good news for a Coyotes penalty-killing unit that ranks eighth, killing off 84.8 percent of opponents’ chances

THREE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

Money well spent? The Wild added the two biggest free agents of the offseason in defenseman Ryan Suter and winger Zack Parise. Both signed 13-year, $98-million deals that were expected to put the Wild in the playoff hunt after missing the postseason four straight seasons. Minnesota also signed
Zenon Konopka and
Willie Mitchell to add toughness. Will it pay off in the long run? Entering Wednesday’s play, Minnesota was one point out of the Western Conference playoff picture in a 10th-place tie with Los Angeles. Suter had no goals and 11 assists in 18 games and only recently has started to look like the player GM Chuck Fletcher expected. Parise was tied for the team-lead in points (13) with
Mikko Koivu and led the club with eight goals.

Picks to click: Coyotes forward Steve Sullivan has 27 points in 29 career games against the Wild; Shane Doan has 31 points in 44 games against Minnesota. Phoenix could really use some production from this pair. Sullivan is pointless in his last four games and has just two assists in his last 12 games. Doan has just two assists in his last six games and just four points (one goal) in his last 14 games.

Dump and chase: Minnesota fans have been vocal about their displeasure with the Wild’s system of dump and chase. Aside from the fact that most teams employ it, including last year’s final four, Star-Tribune beat writer Mike Russo points out that the dumping part hasn’t been the problem for Minnesota: “It’s the chasing. The problem is the team hasn’t done a consistent enough job with its forecheck to either get the puck back with proper placement or going to work once it gets the puck back behind the opposing D. It takes committed courage and effort and physicality to go get that puck and go to work with it.”
INJURY REPORT

For the Wild, F
Cal Clutterbuck (thigh contusion) is on injured reserve after an open-ice hit from Edmonton’s
Taylor Hall that earned Hall a two-game suspension for kneeing. G
Josh Harding is also on IR after experiencing sickness while taking new medications to treat multiple sclerosis. He was diagnosed with the disease in the fall.